The present invention relates to an improved waste collection device.
It is known that many aesthetically, functionally and hygienically disadvantageous characteristics are linked to the municipal solid waste collection methods currently most commonly practiced, which consist in the use of large bins placed at the curbside and in which users place the waste contained in bags and other containers.
In order to obviate these disadvantages, the same Applicants have described, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/670,853 of Mar. 18, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,786, a device comprising a structure provided with a base and a lid that are mutually connected so as to delimit a portion of space for accommodating a container that receives the waste. Waste is introduced into the container through a hollow column or chute connected to the lid of the container. The structure is connected to lifting means that move it between a first lowered position, in which the container is concealed inside a pit and the lid is flush with the surrounding paving, and a second raised position in which the structure protrudes from the pit and the base is flush with the pavement surface surrounding the pit.
The same Applicants subsequently described, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/184,337 of Jan. 21, 1994, a device comprising a pit internally provided with a lifting unit that moves at least one waste container from a lowered position in which it is completely inserted in the pit, to a raised position in which the container protrudes completely therefrom; the pit is furthermore provided, at its upper rim, with an openable lid located at the level of the surrounding paving when it is in a closed or lowered position and comprising at least one hollow column associated therewith for inserting waste into the at least one container.